Chippewa Valley Times

In 2012, a project manager from the Manufacturing Outreach Center (MOC) contacted Tomahawk Live Trap’s (TLT) owner, Greg Smith. At that time, Smith described TLT’s business as stagnant and not growing. During a tour of TLT’s facility, the project manager identified several inefficiencies in their processes. The atmosphere at TLT prior to MOC involvement was described as conflicting and demanding.

Smith was initially skeptical about the proposed changes but became convinced after observing another business's success following collaboration with the MOC. In February 2013, a proposal was developed to initiate a series of training sessions on LEAN manufacturing principles for TLT, including single-piece flow and working with smaller batches. Previously producing 300-piece batches, TLT reduced this to around 30 pieces to minimize production errors.

The partnership between TLT and MOC began in 2012, leading to significant improvements in operational efficiency and sales growth. However, in April 2023, a massive snowstorm caused the collapse of TLT’s shipping warehouse, posing a severe threat to the company’s operations. Despite this setback, TLT managed to resume shipping operations within days due to Lean Manufacturing principles like ‘Single Piece Flow’ and ‘Just in Time’ inventory management.

These practices allowed them to maintain efficient production and meet demand. Following the adoption of lean manufacturing principles, TLT experienced a 23% sales increase the next year, overcoming stagnation caused by COVID-19 and supply chain disruptions in 2020. The MOC’s training and continuous improvement practices were crucial for TLT's ability to navigate challenges and achieve record sales growth.

Since implementing these changes:

- Sales increased by 23% following the reintroduction of continuous improvement practices in 2021.

- Significant infrastructure investments were completed: a 6,000 sq. ft. raw materials warehouse in 2015; major office renovations in 2017; and a new 12,000 sq. ft. shipping warehouse in 2019.

- Employee count doubled from 25 to 50.

- Reinvestment in new equipment included welders, wire cutting machines, a box-making machine, and a $350,000 CNC wire forming machine.

Greg Smith stated: “Our partnership with the MOC is the single biggest reason for our growth during the past twelve years. The concepts we learned from them have enabled us not only to be more competitive but also to become the leading manufacturer in our industry. Without the lean manufacturing concepts we learned from them, it’s very likely that the warehouse collapse would have set us back years or even put us out of business. If you visited us today, you would have no idea that only nine months ago our shipping warehouse had collapsed.”